The President’s Cup often struggles to receive the same attention as the biennial Ryder Cup, but it nevertheless makes for some fun (if historically one-sided) team golf. The United States has won nine of these events consecutively, and while this year’s team is especially vulnerable, taking an overall look at the 24 golfers competing in Canada explains why the red, white and blue are on such a streak in this event.
The U.S. has traditionally overwhelmed the International team with talent. This year is no different, and there are both recent statistics and historical performances to prove it. A thorough breakdown of all 24 golfers playing in the Presidents Cup shows that the Americans bring far less experience into the fray, though the performances of those who have played prior Presidents Cups reign.
Let’s jump right in and rank all 24 players in this year’s event starting with the clear-cut two best players in the world in 2024.
2024 Presidents Cup teams, rankings
1. Xander Schauffele (USA): I have Schauffele ahead of Scheffler, mostly because Scheffler is 0-5-3 since his first team event at the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. Schauffele has been excellent at Presidents Cups in general with a 6-3-0 record, and his last three and six months are close enough to Scheffler that he gets the edge here.
2. Scottie Scheffler (USA): His Presidents Cup performance is one of the storylines I’ll be following the closest this week. As good as he’s been on his own over the last few years, he’s equally struggled at these team events. Part of the reason, I suspect, is that one of his greatest skills — mitigation of massive numbers in his rounds — does not matter at all in match play. That doesn’t mean he cannot be great — he could still easily go out and go 5-0-0 — but at the very least it’s something to keep an eye on.
3. Collin Morikawa (USA): Over the last six months, there are four golfers who have averaged 2.0 strokes gained or higher. Two of them are Scheffler and Schauffele, and the other two are Morikawa (2.22) and Hideki Matsuyama (2.03). Morikawa is perfect for any format and should finally get the only thing he lacked throughout what was a tremendous year: a victory.
4. Hideki Matsuyama (International): On paper, Matsuyama is the International team’s best player and has had the best year. Also on paper, Matsuyama is 7-10-5 at Presidents Cups. Still, it would have been foolish to rank someone who has clearly been one of the four best players in this field over the last six months lower than fourth. He’s the only International player who makes my top five.
5. Patrick Cantlay (USA): Now we start to go off the board just a bit. Cantlay has not been bad this year, but he’s had a down year for Patrick Cantlay. He ranks sixth in strokes gained of players in this field over the last six months, but I’m leaning on team event experience and success at this event in general — he’s 6-3-0 — not to mention a built-in partnership with the No. 1 player on this list.
6. Adam Scott (International): This could go one of two ways. Scott has been arguably the third-best player in the world since July. But we’re also talking about a 44-year-old whose 18-25-6 record is not all that great historically speaking. Can the International team depend on him or will he wear out after a long week? The answer to that question could legitimately decide this event.
7. Tony Finau (USA): The best value and most underrated player in this event. Finau has a better strokes gained number than all but three of the International team’s players over the last six months, he’s 3-2-3 in President’s Cup matches and has finished in the top 20 in nine of his last 10 tournaments.
8. Sungjae Im (International): Great Presidents Cup record and he’s playing great in general of late, ranking No. 3 overall in strokes gained over the last three months behind only Scheffler and Schauffele. My problem with Im? I don’t know that I can trust him. He never wins, and I’m concerned about him if it gets close late in the matches. Maybe that’s unfair, but when your winning percentage on the PGA Tour is around 1%, well, I don’t know what other options I have.
9. Russell Henley (USA): I said Cantlay is the first player I had to reorder based on strokes gained over the last six months. That’s because Henley ranks fifth in that category behind Scheffler, Schauffele, Morikawa and Matsuyama. I’m fascinated to see what he does in a team event because the argument could be made that he’s the most underrated stroke play golfer in the world.
10. Sam Burns (USA): Tried to carry Scheffler around Quail Hollow in 2022 but still stumbled to an 0-3-2 mark in his first President’s Cup. Burns had a nice FedEx Cup Playoffs and has been the sixth-best American in strokes gained over the last three months. Also, that’s seven Americans in the top 10, which is why the International team has not won since 1998.
11. Sahith Theegala (USA): The new Jordan Spieth for the U.S. side. Not from an emotional perspective but definitely from a stylistic standpoint. You might get three out-of-bounds shots off the tee, but you’re also maybe getting eight birdies over the last 13 holes. Electricity.
12. Wyndham Clark (USA): The 2023 U.S. Open champion is where this can turn into a rout for the U.S. side. If the Americans are getting, say, a 2-0-1 performance from Clark, that’s probably an early wrap. Clark has been way up and way down in 2024 but ended the year in a nice note in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
13. Tom Kim (International): He was arguably the star of the 2022 President’s Cup, even though he only went 2-3-0 in his five matches. Kim has struggled of late and failed to make it past the first round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He might be a match play king tantamount to an Ian Poulter or someone like that, but I’m going to have to see it a few more times before I start handing out that title to him.
14. Si Woo Kim (International): Like Clark on the U.S. side, if the International team is getting three points out of someone like Kim, then the U.S. could be in some trouble.
15. Taylor Pendrith (International): Our first Canadian! The home country boy went a putrid 0-4-0 at Quail Hollow. If that happens again, then the International team has no chance. He is trending in the right direction, though, with his three-month SG number improving from his six-month number.
16. Jason Day (International): His record at President’s Cups is a terrible 5-11-4. Good year, but when he’s one of your top six or seven guys, that’s a problem.
17. Brian Harman (USA): Solid play but nothing spectacular this year. Emblematic of that is that he only missed two cuts but also only had two top fives. If the U.S. gets two points out of him, that’s a good thing.
18. Keegan Bradley (USA): I’m curious to see how much they play him. His win at the BMW was great, but it’s his only top 10 since May, and he will be paying particular attention to how the entire event (and specifically the U.S. team) operates ahead of his Ryder Cup captaincy.
19. Mackenzie Hughes (International): His numbers are good but not great, but with the way he putts — at least 0.4 strokes gained per round every season for the last five — he could be a nightmare to face in match play.
20. Min Woo Lee (International): I want to have Lee higher here, but his golf has been pretty bad over the last three and six months. He only has one top 10 since March, and it came at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
21. Ben An (International): I don’t have any strong opinion one way or another on An. A good year, but I don’t expect anything special from him this week.
22. Max Homa (USA): If he wasn’t bringing so many intangibles to the table, Homa would be an easy 24th here. He’s the only player with a negative strokes gained number over the last three months, and it’s 0.74. Next worst is Lee at 0.44, which means Homa has been over one stroke worse than the next worst player in this event over the last three months.
23. Corey Conners (International): Another guy who went 0-4-0 at Quail Hollow. Even though he’s an excellent striker of the ball, I do not love Conners’ game and disposition for this event.
24. Christiaan Bezuidenhout (International): He played poorly over the last three months, although like Hughes, he could be tough to face because his short game is nasty.
